The canopy of the Upper Yard was a sprawling emerald ceiling, thick with the weight of centuries. Below it, the four groups of the Straw Hat crew delved into the unknown, their footsteps muffled by the soft, ancient Vearth. This was no longer a simple vacation; it was a treasure hunt across a landscape that defied every law of nature known to the Blue Sea.
Deep in the southwestern sector, Group 1 moved with a mixture of scholarly intent and chaotic energy. Nico Robin walked with the grace of a woman who had finally found the missing page of her favorite book. She ran her hand over a moss-covered pillar, her fingers tracing the weathered carvings.
"The architecture... it's identical to the structures found in Jaya," Robin murmured, her eyes alight with academic fire. "But these ruins are larger, more preserved. This entire island was once the center of a grand civilization."
Luffy, meanwhile, was trying to see if he could stretch his neck far enough to see the top of a giant beanstalk, while Sanji kept a protective (and heart-eyed) radius around Robin.
In the western sector, Group 2 was having a significantly harder time. Vivi was doing exactly what Sanji had instructed: she was checking on Zoro every thirty seconds.
"Thirty seconds... he's there," Vivi whispered to herself, seeing the green-haired swordsman grumbling as he hacked through a thick vine.
"Thirty seconds... he's still there," she noted again, as Zoro stopped to adjust his haramaki.
Vivi turned for a moment to answer a question from Dory. "Yes, Mr. Giant, the Kimoyo Bead says we should head toward that ridge—"
She turned back. The space where Zoro had been standing was empty. A single, vibrating leaf was the only evidence he had ever existed in that spot.
"He's gone!" Vivi shrieked, her hands flying to her head. "I only looked away for fifteen seconds! How is it possible?!"
Dory let out a booming laugh that shook the nearby trees. "Gebababa! Don't fret, little Queen! The swordsman has the spirit of a wandering beast. He isn't lost; he's just taking a different path. He will eventually join us when the scent of blood or booze reaches him."
"I don't think that's a compliment!" Vivi cried before ducking as a South Bird's beak slammed into a tree trunk inches above her head. "Carue! Defensive maneuvers!"
Carue let out a terrified quack and immediately buried his head in a pile of soft clouds, leaving his feathered rear end exposed to the elements.
Zoro, meanwhile, was convinced he was going the right way.
"Stupid prince and her stupid giants," Zoro muttered, walking through a thicket of purple ferns. "Taking the long way around. If I just keep going straight, I'll find the center of the island."
Zoro had turned left three times, right once, and somehow climbed a tree, which led him to a hidden trail obscured by hanging vines. He hacked through a final curtain of greenery and stepped out into a clearing.
Before him stood a village. It wasn't made of clouds, but of wood, stone, and animal hides. It looked primitive yet fortified, hidden in a natural depression of the earth.
"Huh," Zoro grunted. "Found a town. Maybe they have ale."
At the same time, Group 3 was approaching from the opposite side. Nami, flanked by Brogy and the monkey brothers Masira and Shoujou, had been following her Navigator's instinct toward the largest concentration of "treasure scents."
As they reached the stone archway that marked the entrance to the village, Nami spotted a familiar green head.
"Zoro?!" Nami's voice shrieked.
Zoro blinked. Group 3 was standing there. Brogy, Masira, and Shoujou were all staring at him with varying levels of confusion.
"What are you doing here?" Nami demanded, her eyes narrowing. "You were supposed to be with Vivi and Dory on the other side of the island!"
Zoro crossed his arms, looking unfazed. "The giants got lost. I tried to lead them, but they couldn't keep up with my pace. I figured I'd just find the village and wait for them to find me."
Nami's left eye began to twitch. She let out a sigh so heavy it felt like she was exhaling her very soul. "Zoro... you're on the opposite side of the map. You walked through the center and out the other side. You aren't a navigator; you're a spatial anomaly."
"Shut up," Zoro grunted. "I found a village. Where's the ale?"
The group was about to enter the village when a small figure stepped out from behind a carved totem. It was a young girl with small wings and a large, floppy hat. Her eyes were wide, and she was trembling, but not with fear—with awe.
This was Aisa.
She looked at them, her gaze lingering on Nami and Zoro. In the Shandia culture, she was a rare child born with an exceptionally powerful Mantra—what the Blue Sea called Observation Haki. For hours, she had felt the "voices" of the island. She had felt the terrifying, oppressive presence of Enel... and then, she had felt it vanish in a burst of overwhelming light and physical force.
"You..." Aisa whispered, her voice tiny. "You're the ones. The voices said... The Voice of God Enel was snuffed out. You defeated him, didn't you?"
Zoro scoffed, crossing his arms. " Puny god. He wasn't much of a challenge for our Captain."
Nami rolled her eyes. "I wouldn't call him a God, sweetie. He was just a jerk with a big ego. But yes, he's finished. He's currently a prisoner on our ship, locked in a suitcase."
Aisa's mouth fell open. "A prisoner? In a... suitcase?"
Nami nodded, then looked around at the village. "Where are we? Who are you people?"
Aisa began to explain, her words tumbling out in a rush. She spoke of the Shandia, the descendants of the Great Warriors of Jaya. She told them how their land had been launched into the sky 400 years ago, and how they had fought a "Holy War" for centuries to reclaim their ancestral home from the sky people.
As she spoke, a shadow fell over the group.
"Aisa! Get away from those Blue Sea dwellers!"
A man dropped from the sky, landing with a heavy thud. He held a massive burn bazooka, and his eyes were filled with a fierce, cold rage. This was Wyper, the Berserker. Behind him, dozens of Shandia warriors emerged from the huts, their spears leveled at Nami and Zoro.
"Why are you bringing strangers to our hidden hearth?" Wyper growled at Aisa. "Who are these people? Are they Enel's spies?"
"No, Wyper!" Aisa shouted, standing her ground. "They defeated him! The God is gone! I felt it!"
Wyper froze. The grip on his bazooka tightened until his knuckles turned white. "Defeated? Impossible. No one defeats Enel."
"They did!" Aisa insisted. "And right now... their other friend is fighting the Four Priests!"
Miles away, in the heart of the Ordeal territory, the air was a chaotic mess of iron, fire, and swamp clouds.
Group 4 had run into an ambush. Or rather, they had walked into a trap, and Ben had told Chopper and Cricket to sit back and watch.
Ben stood in the center of a clearing, surrounded by Ohm, Satori, Gedatsu, and Shura.
"You are arrogant, Blue Sea man," Ohm said, his Iron Cloud sword shimmering. "To face all four of us at once is a Class 1 Crime."
"I'm a busy man," Ben said, checking his watch. "I have a map to finish. Let's make this quick."
Satori giggled, launching a barrage of Surprise Balls. "HOH-HOH! Try to dodge these!"
Ben didn't move. He raised a hand, and a shimmering purple barrier of [Ruler's Authority] expanded around him. The balls hit the barrier and exploded in a shower of feathers, snakes, and fire, but Ben remained untouched.
Shura dived from the sky on his giant bird, his fire spear thrusting forward. "Burn in the holy flames!"
Ben looked up. His eyes glowed. With a flick of his wrist, gravity reversed in a localized pocket. Shura and his bird were slammed upward into the canopy, pinned against the giant leaves by ten times their own weight.
"One down," Ben muttered.
Gedatsu charged, his goggle-eyes rolling back. "Swamp Cloud Burger!"
Ben stepped to the side, his movements a blur of calculated efficiency. He grabbed Gedatsu by the collar and used the man's own momentum to hurl him into Satori. The two priests collided and tumbled into a pit of Satori's own trap balls.
Ohm lunged, his sword stretching like a whip. Ben caught the blade with his bare hand—his palm coated in a thin layer of Haki-reinforced carbon.
"Your Mantra is impressive," Ben told the shocked priest. "But your output is too low."
Ben squeezed. The Iron Cloud sword shattered into a thousand pieces.
While Ben was dismantling the priesthood, Group 1 was busy being themselves.
Sanji, Luffy, and Usopp were walking through a particularly dense part of the forest when they found a strange, glowing fruit hanging from a vine.
"Ooh! Mystery fruit!" Luffy shouted, his neck stretching out three meters to grab it.
"Wait, Luffy! Don't eat that!" Usopp screamed, grabbing Luffy's legs. "It might be poisonous! Or it might turn you into a frog! Or it might be a 'Liar's Fruit' that makes your nose grow even longer!"
"Your nose can't get any longer, Usopp," Sanji said, blowing a cloud of smoke. "It's already a structural hazard."
"HEY!"
Luffy shoved the fruit into his mouth anyway. His face turned bright purple, his eyes popped out, and he started smoking from his ears.
"Gah! Spicy! SPICY!" Luffy began running in circles, his feet moving so fast they blurred. He accidentally ran up a vertical tree trunk, across the bottom of a giant leaf, and slammed head-first into a hive of Sky Bees.
"Great," Sanji sighed, watching a swarm of angry, glowing bees descend. "Now we have to fight the local fauna because of Captain's stomach ."
"SAVE ME, SANJI!" Usopp shrieked, already running in the opposite direction. "I have 'Can't-Fight-Bees-In-The-Sky' disease! It's fatal!"
Sanji kicked a bee into the stratosphere. "You just made that up!"
"It's a very common ailment in the Blue Sea!" Usopp wailed, tripping over a root and accidentally launching a Fire Bird Star into the air, which exploded and set Luffy's shorts on fire.
"GYAAAH! MY BUTT IS ON FIRE, AND THE BEES ARE STINGING MY BUTT!" Luffy screamed, jet-propelling himself through the forest like a rubber rocket.
Back at the Shandia village, Aisa was relaying the carnage.
"Your friend..." Aisa whispered, her eyes wide. "He just... he just broke the Iron Sword with his fingers. The Priests... they're all down. The voices are crying out in the forest."
Wyper's bazooka lowered. His jaw tightened. The realization hit him like a physical blow. The "God" was gone. The Priests were broken. The 400-year blockade of his home had been demolished by a group of idiots who were currently arguing about spicy fruit and flaming butts.
"SHANDIA!" Wyper roared, his voice echoing through the village. "THE BELL OF SHANDORA IS WAITING! THE PATH IS CLEAR! WE RECLAIM THE UPPER YARD TODAY!"
The warriors let out a cry that shook the trees. They ignited their skates and roared past Nami and Zoro.
"Hey! Wait!" Nami shouted, her eyes turning into Berries. "If there's a reclamation, there's a treasury! Zoro, move your mossy ass! We're following the war-party!"
"I'm going!" Zoro yelled, turning 180 degrees and running directly into a hut. "Dammit! Who put this house here?!"
Nami grabbed him by the collar and dragged him toward the forest. "This way, you idiot!"
As they ran, the Kimoyo Beads crackled.
"Nami-san! We've reached the central ruins!" Robin's voice came through, calm as ever. "The architecture here is fascinating. Also, Luffy is currently submerged in a lake trying to cool his 'flaming butt,' as he puts it."
"Vivi here!" the Princess's voice added. "We've cleared the South Birds! Dory-san is using one as a pillow! We're heading to your coordinates!"
"Sanji here," the cook's voice crackled. "If I see that moss-head, tell him I'm going to cook him for getting Vivi-chan worried. Also, Usopp is currently stuck in a carnivorous plant. I'm leaving him there for a few minutes to think about his life choices."
"LET ME OUT!" Usopp's muffled voice echoed in the background. "IT TASTES LIKE KALE IN HERE! I HATE KALE!"
Nami laughed, running through the giant leaves with the Shandia warriors. "Ben! Are you there?"
"I'm here," Ben's voice came through, sounding remarkably relaxed. "The Priests are dealt with. Everyone, converge on the giant beanstalk."
"HELL YEAH!" the crew shouted in unison (except for Usopp, who was still being digested by a plant).
The Great Exploration had officially turned into a victory lap. The Sky Island would never be the same.